A birthday cake fit for royalty

It was my birthday recently (lets not dwell too much on it) and I wanted to make myself a decadent and rich chocolate cake to celebrate/drown my sorrows! This no bake chocolate biscuit cake is apparently a favourite of the Queen’s as well as Prince’ William and Harry; it was even Prince William’s groom’s cake when he got married. Well what’s good enough for royalty is obviously good enough for me right? Right??…don’t answer that.

Ingredients

340 g (12oz) unsalted butter

60 g (2oz) unsweetened cocoa, sifted

240g (8oz) golden syrup

120 g (4oz) dark chocolate

1 tsp vanilla extract

60 g (2oz) pistachios

100 g (3 1/2oz) dried figs, roughly chopped

450 g (1lb) sweet plain biscuits, roughly crumbled

200 g (7oz) milk chocolate for decorating

20 g (0.7oz) pistachios, roughly chopped

Line a 20cm/8 inch round cake tin with baking paper. Melt the butter and the golden syrup in a saucepan but do not let it boil.

Remove the saucepan from the heat and add the cocoa powder, dark chocolate and vanilla extract. Stir until you have a smooth and glossy mixture.

Add the pistachios, figs and crushed biscuits to the chocolate mixture and stir well making sure that all the biscuit pieces are coated.

Place the chocolate biscuit mixture in the cake tin and press it down to make sure there are no air bubbles. Chill the cake in the fridge for at least 2 hours, though it’s best if you leave it overnight to make sure it’s fully set.

Once the cake is set, remove it from the tin and place it on a cooling rack.

Melt the milk chocolate in a small bowl in the microwave for 30 second bursts. Stir in between. Spread the chocolate all over the cake and let it drizzle down the sides.

Decorate with some left over chopped pistachios. Store the cake in an airtight container in the refrigerator, though it’s best if you leave it out of the fridge for 15 minutes before serving.

This cake should keep for up to two weeks, although it didn’t get a chance to last that long in my house! This cake kind of reminds me of a hedgehog slice but with figs and pistachios added. Enjoy!